ABOUT WESTWOLD / MONTE LAKE
Westwold and Monte Lake sit along Highway 97 east of Kamloops, in the Thompson Nicola Regional District's Electoral Area L. Monte Lake is about 50 km from Kamloops, and Westwold is about 10 km further on, where the Salmon River valley opens into hay fields. Settlers in the 1860s called the Westwold valley Grande Prairie, and the Westwold name came with the post office in the 1920s.
This is ranch and acreage country. Properties range from a few acres to large hay farms with irrigation and water licences, plus lake properties at Monte Lake, and part of the valley is in the Agricultural Land Reserve. Westwold has a community hall, a TNRD eco-depot and a small elementary school, and most shopping and services are in Kamloops or Vernon.
WESTWOLD AND MONTE LAKE LISTINGS
Listed by Stonehaus Realty Corp
Listed by Coldwell Banker Executives Realty
Listed by Sotheby's International Realty Canada
Listed by RE/MAX Real Estate (Kamloops)
Westwold / Monte Lake
Area Guide
Practical answers on Westwold and Monte Lake from a Kamloops REALTOR with 18 years in construction who has lived on rural property at Pinantan Lake since 2008, and who reads the water licences before the view.
Contact JeremiaWhere are Westwold and Monte Lake?
Along Highway 97 between Monte Creek and Falkland, east of Kamloops. Monte Lake is about 50 km from Kamloops and Westwold about 10 km past it, so plan on roughly 45 minutes to an hour to Kamloops depending on where you are in the valley. Both are unincorporated communities in TNRD Electoral Area L.
Who lives in Westwold and Monte Lake?
Ranchers, hay growers, hobby farmers and people who want land and quiet within about an hour of Kamloops, along with seasonal owners at Monte Lake.
What is the lifestyle like?
Rural and seasonal. Monte Lake has kokanee fishing from spring through fall and ice fishing in winter when conditions allow, Pinaus Lake is up the Ingram Creek forest service road south of Westwold, the Falkland Stampede runs on the May long weekend, and Monte Creek Winery is on the way into Kamloops.
What are the properties like?
Acreage, hay land and ranches, much of it irrigated, plus lake properties at Monte Lake. Water is the first question: in the dry summers of 2021 and 2023 the province ordered forage irrigation from the lower Salmon River stopped to protect fish, and wells near the river were found to be connected to it. Get the water licences, the well records and the irrigation history before you count on a hay crop. The water licences post and the farm class post cover the checks.
Schools and services
Westwold Elementary is a small School District 73 school, listed by the province as kindergarten to grade 7; it closed for a year in 2018 when enrolment dropped and reopened in 2019. Ask SD73 which secondary school and bus serve a specific property. The Westwold Community Hall and a TNRD eco-depot on Westwold Station Road are local; groceries and most services are in Kamloops or Vernon.
Discover Westwold and Monte Lake
Things to Do & See
Monte Lake Fishing
View Activities
Pinaus Lake
View Activities
Falkland Stampede
View Activities
Monte Creek Winery
View Activities
WHAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT THINK TO ASK
Out here, the water and the fire history matter more than the house. Ask for every water licence on the property and confirm it transfers with the land, find out how the well performs in August, and ask how the hay field did in 2021 and 2023, when irrigation from the lower Salmon River was ordered stopped.
Ask about the 2021 White Rock Lake fire, which destroyed homes at Monte Lake and along Paxton Valley Road, and get an insurance quote before subject removal, because fire protection coverage varies by address. Walk the riverbank too: in 2023 the Salmon River eroded properties on Douglas Lake Road. I have 18 years in construction and I am not a licensed home inspector, so I will tell you when to bring one in.
Huxley
Jeremia Huxley is a REALTOR with Stonehaus Realty Corp., based in Pinantan Lake, BC, who focuses on rural, acreage and lake properties around Kamloops, including Westwold and Monte Lake. He has 18 years of construction experience and 9 years in real estate, and the two have overlapped for most of that time. He is not a licensed home inspector. Contact: 250-571-0379.
Westwold and Monte Lake FAQ
REAL ESTATE INSIGHTS
Buying or selling rural property raises questions that city listings never do: wells, septic, who plows the road, what the ALR allows.
The blog takes them one at a time, in plain language, from someone who has lived on rural property since 2008.